In the vein of Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, this novel takes the reader
on a wild ride to a community turned upside-down by the social
changes of the 1970s. Seen through the eyes of a young man newly
fled from his straight-laced Dutch upbringing, the fishing village of
Bamfield on Vancouver Island's pristine west coast is the unlikely
meeting place of an uneasy mix of fishermen, the Nuu-chah-nulth
whaling clan, hippies, drug peddlers and the scientists and students
of the Bamfield Marine Station.

Gaz, a marine biologist, begins to live the laidback life of
Lotusland in the 70s, becoming a beachcomber and small-time
marijuana grower with his two friends, rich kid Blay and Weeping
Salmon People aristocrat, Ben. And not long after, he falls in love
with Heidi, a student at the Marine Station.

But things go terribly wrong: greedy Blay brings big-city
interests into their casual pot business, Ben is murdered, Heidi's
affections begin to wane and the local police are on to them.
Of Bamfield, Simon Winchester wrote in the New York Times,

“[It is] a town so tight-knit . . . [so] full of hidden intrigues and
eccentrics . . . [that] with its extraordinary history, [it] seems the
perfect subject for a novel.” Louis recognized this potential and felt
compelled to explore Bamfield's cauldron of characters in Cedar,
Salmon and Weed.